How To Install Android On The HP Touchpad–At Your Own Risk
That’s right. The highly anticipated Android port for the HP Touchpad is here–somewhat. The popular aftermarket Android firmware distribution team has been working on the port ever since HP removed themselves from the tablet market and began selling their unsupported tablets starting at $99.
Today they released the “LOWER YOUR EXPECTATIONS” ALPHA edition of Android 2.3.5 for the HP Touchpad built on CyanogenMod 7.1.0. The thing to keep in mind here is that it is the ALPHA release and as such it is 100% AS-IS, unsupported, non-warranted and installation is NOT encouraged.
What doesn’t work? Phone and messaging related items have been left in the build but–obviously–are not supported. Many–MANY–apps have compatibility issues including the fact that some can not be found in the market at all! There have also been reports of issues with sound, camera and wifi just to name a few.
TO INSTALL:
Install is supported on Windows, Mac and Linux however I have only attempted the install from Windows XP as well as Windows 7.
You can find all of the steps to install as well as all files needed from the official thread on rootzwiki. You can see a video of the ACMEInstaller process here.
Alternatively, I have downloaded all needed files you need to get Android working on the Touchpad including the instructions and packaged them into a single ZIP file which you can download here.
TO INSTALL ANDROID MARKET:
One thing that the CyanogenMod team didn’t include in the install instructions is how to install the Market. If you are left wondering “How do I install the Android Market on my Touchpad” here you are.
Start by downloading the latest Google Apps zip. At the time of this posting the latest is 0828 which you can download here. DO NOT extract the ZIP. Boot your touchpad into Android. Connect it to your PC and turn on USB storage when prompted. Copy apps-gb-20110828-signed.zip to the root of your touchpad and then unmount and reboot. When the boot menu appears choose boot ClockworkMod. From there you will want to install the .zip file from SD card. Reboot and when you boot into Android you should be prompted to log in to your Google account and then you are all set. The Market will appear in your app drawer.
INSTALL EXPERIENCE:
After installing this on two touchpads I can say that I am very impressed. This release doesn’t feel like an Alpha to me. 95% of the of 100+ apps I tried to install were compatible and didn’t have any major issues. Several seemed to lack rotation support but other than that they seemed to run very fluid. The rom runs much more smoothly on the touchpad than on several phones that I have used it on and I am excited to see what happens as the rom community grows around the touchpad.
To see the rom in action check out the official CyanogenMod video here and while you’re at it check out the other Touchpad videos on his channel[Rootzwiki].
[As always you are responsible for any bricks, void warranties or explosions. ForcaTech is in no way liable for any damage your device may incur due to any information here. Install at your own risk.]
